Tube drivers to start industrial action on Friday
Tube train drivers are to begin industrial action on Friday morning in a move likely to cause delays and disruption to the capital’s underground network. The action was agreed by a margin of four to one by members of the UK’s largest transport union, the Rail, Maritime and Transport union, in a row with London […]
Unions mount legal challenge to Government pension changes
A new front will open up tomorrow in the ongoing battle over public sector pensions between unions and the Coalition Government when a judicial review hearing kicks off in the High Court. The aim of the legal challenge, which has been mounted by the UK’s six largest public sector unions, is to question the lawfulness […]
IT outsourcing cuts costs, but fails to improve quality, warn HRDs
The majority of public sector HR directors believe that, while outsourcing their IT could contribute to cutting costs, it will not help to deliver better quality services. According to a survey among 100 HRDs working in central government departments, local authorities, NHS Trusts and police forces by jobs website TotalJobs.com, almost two-thirds believed that outsourcing […]
Technical skills seen as key barrier in move to HR shared services
Technology and the skills required to implement and use it are key concerns when migrating to HR and payroll shared services. A survey of more than 100 public sector organisations undertaken by software supplier MidlandHR revealed that many of them were currently looking on the black side, overestimating the challenges associated with implementing shared services, […]
Blog: Committing to a compassionate culture within the NHS
Compliance to compassion was a phrase that has resonated with me this week, since another damning report was released on the state of the national health service’s approach to eldercare. A lady on the radio yesterday (Thursday) urged officials to shift thinking across the organisation, and actually change the way that individuals approach their day-to-day […]
Public sector job cuts hindering not helping deficit reduction, warns CIPD
Chancellor George Osborne has been urged to postpone continuing public sector job cuts because they are a “false economy” that is hindering rather than helping deficit reduction plans. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development today warned that the Coalition Government was cutting too far, too fast, after a survey by the organisation revealed […]
Stress now most common cause of sickness absence at work
Stress is now the biggest cause of long-term absence among UK workers across all sectors, overtaking cancer as the main reason for taking time off due to sickness. But according to a survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and private health insurance provider, Simplyhealth, staff absence in the public sector have rocketed […]
Sheffield Council settles equal pay claim out-of-court
Just as an equal pay claim made by hundreds of women at Sheffield Council has been settled out of court, Birmingham Council employees have started a one-day strike over new employment contracts. Some 900 female Sheffield City Council staff, who include dinner ladies and care workers, were due to have their case heard at the […]
PCS calls off Fujitsu strike, but Unite goes ahead
The Public and Commercial Services union has called off today’s scheduled strike action after settling pay differences with government IT outsourcing supplier Fujitsu, although parallel action by Unite members is still set to go ahead. The PCS action would have affected a range of high-profile Fujitsu public sector clients including Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs, the […]
Analysis: Private sector fails to offset public sector jobs cull as unemployment soars
Unemployment has experienced the largest quarterly hike since August 2009, driven by a faster than expected public sector jobs cull that a slowing private sector is failing to offset. According to official labour market figures published by the Office for National Statistics, unemployment stood at 7.9% or 2.51 million for the three months to July, […]
Cap is not damaging economy, says immigration advisor
Although there is “no evidence” that the immigration cap is damaging the UK economy, it is creating an employment “dilemma” in the public sector, the government’s chief advisor has warned. Professor David Metcalf, who chairs the Migration Advisory Committee, pointed to the fact that, although the cap on skilled migrants from outside of the European […]
Engineering suffers from lack of jobs not skills, says study
Claims that there is a shortage of graduates with the engineering skills required to drive economic growth may be overstated, according to research from Birmingham University. Researchers at the institution say that fewer than half of graduates who leave university with a degree in engineering are actually still working in the field six months later. […]
“Millions” of public servants to strike in November, warns union
Leaders of the civil servants’ union have agreed to hold a second strike over public sector pensions in November as the TUC warned that it was “prepared and ready” to coordinate national industrial action if government talks failed. Officials said that as many as 10 unions could support the proposed walk-out which, according to Mark […]
E-rostering helps Leeds NHS Trust manage workforce more efficiently
It’s hard to imagine an organisation with 13,000 staff across six main sites, delivering critical services to over one million patients per year, being totally reliant on paper-based systems. And yet this was the case with Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS Trust until just recently. “Despite being one of the biggest Trusts in the UK, our […]
Female unemployment to jump again from 23-year high
Even as it became clear that Lord Davies’ boardroom gender targets were being ignored by most UK companies, the TUC warned that female unemployment rates were set to jump further from current 23-year highs. An analysis of official statistics undertaken by the union umbrella organisation revealed that, because the number of women employed in the […]
Blog: Is more home-working the Olympics’ legacy for employers?
‘Olympic legacy’ is a phrase mentioned on a daily basis at present. But what effect will London 2012 have on businesses in the capital? For starters, a meltdown of public transport according to Olympic Games organisers and Transport for London. There’ll be three million more journeys a day including one million more Tube passengers during […]
Birmingham Council to hire out staff using workforce planning tool
Birmingham City Council plans to commercially hire out workers to other local authorities with the help of a newly introduced ‘Talent Net’ workforce planning framework. The framework will also be employed to ensure that the local authority’s skills needs are met in the face of thousands of job cuts by enabling it to identify critical […]
Career visioning as an antidote to corporate rioting
There are very few people who would give those involved in this month’s rioting the time of day, let alone the chance to explain why they sought to bring disruption, violence and chaos to the streets of the UK. But as anyone working in HR will know, communication, whatever the circumstances, is always critical. So […]
Update: Health unions plan first ever NHS-wide strike
Health service unions are planning to launch a series of targeted, rolling strikes this autumn rather than a mass walkout if pension negotiations with the coalition government fail as expected. The news came to light after Unison, which represents 460,000 NHS workers, hosted a meeting with other unions in London on Wednesday, in order to […]
Bonuses and allowances compensate council bosses for pay cuts
Local authority bosses were compensated for promised pay cuts last year by having their bonuses and allowances boosted instead. The move came despite calls by Eric Pickles, the Communities and Local Government Secretary, for town hall chiefs to take a 10% wage reduction. An analysis of accounts published by 128 of the largest council’s […]
